“I knew Mr. Cotroni from the newspapers like other Quebecers,” said Zampino.

The inquiry also questioned him at length about his ties to the Di Maulo family, known associates of the Rizzutos and the Cotronis, who ruled before them. Zampino said he did not know of the Di Maulo family’s Mafia links.

Zampino also denied knowing Vito Rizzuto, the man considered to be in charge of the Mafia in Montreal following the demise of the Cotroni family.

The inquiry indicated it was in possession of a photo of Zampino and Rizzuto together.

Zampino said he wasn’t sure whether any such photo was ever taken.

One witness, Rosaire Sauriol of the engineering firm Dessau, described Zampino as ”the most powerful man in Montreal.”

Witnesses at the inquiry have described how companies inflated the cost of public projects and divided up the extra cash among the Mafia, corrupt bureaucrats and Union Montreal, Zampino’s old party.

Zampino, a chartered accountant, said he got into politics in 1986 purely by chance after being approached to run as a councillor.

In 1990, he became mayor of Saint-Leonard. He was then acclaimed in 1994 and 1998.

He ended up spending 22 years in municipal politics in Montreal and Saint-Leonard.

He became involved in Montreal politics in 2001, when the province merged small cities into a megacity. Zampino says he wasn’t in favour, but didn’t want to be left on the outside looking in.

That’s when he decided to get onboard with Tremblay, who had ambitions of becoming mayor of Montreal and wanted Zampino, who was respected among other suburban mayors.

Zampino said he was proud of his time with the city and said he left it in better financial condition than when he started.

When the questions briefly turned to electoral financing, Zampino said he was unaware of the existence of “turn-key” elections when he started in politics. He said he learned of them through the papers.

So-called “turn-key” elections occur when companies provide everything and candidates step right into their privately financed campaign operation in exchange for post-election favours for the firms.

The witness before Zampino, ex-party fundraiser Bernard Trepanier, said that type of election financing was the norm. Trepanier and Zampino are close friends.